Director of Finance Strategy
We are currently supporting the prestigious University of Nottingham in hiring a Director of Finance Strategy. This is a senior Business Partner role that will be responsible for providing finance expertise to support the development and delivery of the University's strategic plan.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a leading UK University and make a significant contribution to shaping the development and delivery of the University's strategy. If you are an experienced strategic finance professional with excellent leadership and management skills this could be for you.
As the Director of Finance Strategy, you will lead the team responsible for the financial evaluation of all significant programmes undertaken by the University. The portfolio of projects are vast and you will support a very diverse mix of stakeholders. This role requires someone who will foster a culture of proactive cross-functional working between Finance, Project Management, the University Governance team and various business delivery teams as well as external parties.
The successful candidate will have a proven track record and extensive experience of working in a senior management role, leading a team of professional staff in a high performance environment. You will be an experienced strategic finance professional, with a proven background in business partnering, supporting strategy development and implementation in diverse organisations. You will have a strategic mindset, excellent interpersonal business partnering skills, and the capability to build strong working relationships throughout the University, this role will provide support, guidance and challenge to university leaders as new strategies are developed.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading and managing the investment prioritisation process across the University to ensure all strategic projects are appropriately evaluated using a consistent model that is aligned to the plan.
- Supporting strategy development for key University activities, such as Estates strategy, Digital strategy, Fees and Pricing strategy and School expansion strategies.
- Leading the development of the University's strategic investment pipeline and investment prioritisation process, with oversight of c£100m per annum capital and strategic revenue investment.
- Providing guidance to the University Executive Board (UEB) on an investment plan that delivers University of Nottingham's commitments, within the affordable targets agreed within the Medium-Term Financial Plan by UEB and University Council.
- Leading a team of 10 strategic finance business partners and finance managers, responsible for supporting the University in the above activities.
The ideal candidate will be a qualified accountant, with extensive relevant post-qualification experience in a similar role. It would be desirable (not essential) if you have a project management qualification and knowledge of current applicable accounting standards. In addition, you will have proven ability to provide innovative solutions, implement continuous improvement by challenging the status quo and deliver high levels of support to the organisation and the key stakeholders.